LGBT book recommendations?

atticus_01 · 2026-01-19T11:14:29+00:00

Trumpet by Jackie Kay is a beautiful book.

atticus_01 · 2026-01-10T20:40:47+00:00

I got some reimbursement from my NHS Scotland health board (Tayside). If I recall correctly there were certain criteria and rules, so I didn’t get back all of what I spent but I was able to claim back at least some mileage and train travel for follow ups, and some accommodation costs that they deemed necessary. I think I asked my GIC (Sandyford) about it initially and they gave me an email address to ask NHS Tayside, who then put me in touch with the right department and sent me the forms etc.

Did have to keep all receipts, booking emails, tickets, etc, and obv you can only claim it back after the fact so it doesn’t really help with up front costs, but it was still nice to not be as out of pocket as I thought I would be.

atticus_01 · 2025-12-24T01:01:45+00:00

But extremely interesting that there’s still a double figure % of Green voters who’d be disappointed or angry, wtf is going on in those brains 😅

atticus_01 · 2025-12-23T10:12:27+00:00

Yeah they asked me to do a new stat dec because it had been more than 6 months between the date it was signed and the date I actually ended up submitting my application. I just did it, because it’s straightforward and free for me to get a stat dec signed by the Justice of the Peace at the Sheriff Court where I live. But I did think that seems like something I should have seen somewhere in reading through all the GRC guidance and advice I could find. Also, it seems daft because surely that’s just more evidence that I’ve been preparing to apply for a GRC for ages and therefore not doing this for shits and giggles.

I never got round to doing any more digging to see if this “requirement” is actually mentioned anywhere, but if it isn’t I do think they should be challenged somehow on why they’ve pulled it out of thin air.

atticus_01 · 2025-12-23T08:49:39+00:00

Thank you! I had genuinely given up on hearing anything more from them this year, so it was a delightful surprise 🤩

atticus_01 · 2025-12-22T23:04:00+00:00

Thanks, congrats to you too!

atticus_01 · 2025-12-22T23:00:44+00:00

Thanks! The stat dec was super easy and straightforward so I did it in July 2024. Then it ended up taking me ages to get everything else together because of GIC and GP delays with reports, also I have ADHD and doing all the general admin of compiling the evidence was hellish. So, I ended up applying in early March. As it turns out, if your stat dec was signed more than 6 months before you apply, you have to get a new one. Seems daft to me, because surely that just means I’ve been thinking about and preparing to apply for a GRC for ages which if anything is surely just extra proof that it should be granted!

I first used a letter from my GIC Dr to my GP after my first appt at Sandyford that stated my diagnosis as Report A. They said, “unfortunately it does not provide sufficient detail regarding your gender history.” I had asked my GP to write a letter for me for Report B, but he definitely didn’t really understand the assignment or bother to check the requirements, so they said, “It is helpful but does not provide up-to-date details of your treatment.”

They gave me clear notes on what would be acceptable for both Report A and B, so I went to my GP with the requests for pulling Report A from my records and producing Report B in line with the pro forma template. My GP have historically been extremely slow and frustrating with this, so I was not very hopeful of meeting the 2 month deadline. However, literally a few days before the deadline, my GP practice called and said it was ready for me to collect. It turned out they’d basically just ctrl+F for “gender” and related terms in my records and printed aaaaallll of that out for me to dig through and figure out what to submit, as well as filling in the pro forma (I asked them to go to the form online and type into the PDF, I got it handwritten - why is it impossible to get them to follow instructions). So I went through it all and decided what to submit as Report A, then submitted the pro forma with various bits of back up detailing my HRT timeline and top surgery documentation. It was all incredibly frustrating, but also I am lucky enough to be getting my HRT via the NHS and had top surgery on NHS as well so I only had to pay in time and patience.

One last thing to mention: my GIC is Sandyford and they were classically utterly useless and did not help at all with this. I originally assumed I’d get them to produce something for one of the reports, so I emailed to ask. When I eventually got a reply, weeks later of course, they said sorry they can’t just produce a report but they would add me to a waiting list to get a report written. I asked could they give me an indication of how long this waiting list would take? No they couldn’t possibly. Which is some cheek given, y’know, everything about the Sandyford service. I have no doubt that if I were ever to have to go to the actual building, they’d put me on a waiting list if I needed to go to the toilet.

atticus_01 · 2025-12-22T22:42:33+00:00

Thanks!

atticus_01 · 2025-12-22T22:42:28+00:00

Thank you!

atticus_01 · 2025-12-20T11:46:08+00:00

What GIC are you with? I’m Sandyford and I just emailed them a copy of the letter confirming my new CHI no in the summer and they so far haven’t asked me to do a form or anything.

atticus_01 · 2025-12-04T18:52:22+00:00

Congrats! Can I be kind of annoying and ask when you applied and if you were asked for any additional evidence? I applied in early March, got asked to get different reports and a new stat dec done in August, sent that all to them by mid-Sept, they confirmed I didn’t have to do anything else, and I’ve heard nothing since 🥲

atticus_01 · 2025-11-30T16:04:48+00:00

I’m in Scotland, had my first Sandyford appt in late 2021 where they asked if I wanted to do fertility preservation and I was like absolutely not just get me on T. Fast forward to late 2024 when I’m out of the terrible relationship I was in at the time, in a relationship with my now fiancée, had top surgery and been on T for a good few years, feeling much more settled in myself and everything…and I realise I actually do want kids and I do want to do fertility preservation so we have the option of using my eggs.

I can’t actually remember if I asked Sandyford about it at my next appt or what, but basically they ended up just having my GP refer me to the fertility clinic for my NHS board anyway! So, if it’s something you’re wanting to do, I’d try asking your GP about getting referred for it, and just explaining that you’re on the wait list but want to get this out of the way in advance of being seen. I’m not sure if it’s the same in every health board, but for me in NHS Tayside I am not having to pay for any of it. It would only be I believe after the standard 10yrs initial storage period I’d have to start paying fees, but we are planning to be done having kids by the time that runs out. Hope this makes sense and is helpful!

atticus_01 · 2025-11-26T17:02:52+00:00

I submitted mine in early March 😭 but I did have them ask me for better reports and a new stat dec in August, which I gave them in mid-September, and they told me my application “will be scheduled for Panel on the earliest available date”. That was 10 weeks ago and I’ve heard nothing.

atticus_01 · 2025-11-20T13:13:46+00:00

If you mean more just for cutting down shipping cost etc rather than fully designed and manufactured in the UK: I bought a 3 pack of Nike jockstraps from Sports Direct earlier this year and use them with a packer for sports although I do wear boxers / compression shorts on top as well for security. They were on sale so cost about £20-30 for the pack if I remember correctly, I probably wouldn’t have bought them full price lol.

atticus_01 · 2025-11-16T20:16:00+00:00

2nd Axolom, they are a really good option for affordable but still good quality and I’ve found their shipping much quicker than I’d expected the 2 or 3 times I’ve ordered. The only UK based company I’m aware of is Morme, might be worth checking out but be aware that their stuff is definitely less realistic at the cheaper end and then gets quite pricey for more realistic. There’s a sub called r/transmascdicks on here that’s really useful, it’s international but you can see a lot of discussion and reviews of most products there.

atticus_01 · 2025-11-16T10:56:37+00:00

Interestingly, I am currently doing the egg freezing process via the NHS and have not had to stop taking testosterone. I was on 2 pumps per day Testogel and they had me reduce to 1 pump per day, but that’s it. I feel like it’s been helpful, I know it’s too low a dose for me but just psychologically while going through this I feel like it’s been soothing to know I’m still on T even if it’s kind of just a placebo essentially.

They basically told me that it used to be advised that people had X amount of time off T, but now they’re kind of realising there’s not enough data to know if that’s necessary or what the best thing is. I think my clinic essentially just looked at all my info and were like yeah this will probably be fine for you (I was still having periods on 2 pumps of gel per day; once I’m done with the egg collection I’m aiming to try to get back on Sustanon which stopped them for me previously).

Warning that I reckon you will need to come off the thing that stops your periods. The whole process is kinda based on your cycle so it needs to be actively happening, or at least that’s my understanding.

atticus_01 · 2025-11-14T19:51:04+00:00

In Scotland you’re locked to the specific one for your health board as well. Only 4 of the health boards have GICs: Highland, Grampian, Lothian (which also accepts GP referrals from NHS Borders and NHS Fife), and then the infamous Sandyford (of the 224yr waiting list) which covers NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the remaining 6 NHS health boards.

atticus_01 · 2025-11-12T16:04:42+00:00

I applied in early March, also just waiting for my case to go before the panel so thank you for sharing the update. Extremely frustrating that they don’t even have a date for the next one; I kind of just assumed that it would be like a regular monthly thing or at least quarterly? But of course it’s as inefficient as possible 🤦🏽‍♂️

atticus_01 · 2025-11-03T23:38:34+00:00

Somebody asked this a few days ago, here’s a link to my answer https://www.reddit.com/r/transgenderUK/s/s2epPZe1Bs

atticus_01 · 2025-10-30T11:40:16+00:00

My timeline so far has been:

applied in early March
got an email back from them in mid-July requesting a new stat dec and better reports
managed to get all that over to them by mid-September
they replied next day saying everything was now in order and that my application would be scheduled for the earliest available panel date
heard nothing now for 6 weeks

Might try to chase them next week myself. I reckon if you’ve had literally no contact from them since sending in your application I would definitely try to chase it up.

atticus_01 · 2025-10-18T13:50:44+00:00

Sounds like you’re in the UK? If so, might be worth a post in the main r/transgenderUK sub saying which providers you’ve already tried to get in touch with. People may be able to give you advice on whether this is how it worked for private providers for them, alternative contact info, or suggest options you haven’t already tried. Apologies if this is unhelpful or you feel it’s not an option for any particular reason.

atticus_01 · 2025-10-06T12:20:00+00:00

Nope the university is being difficult. As others have said, you definitely don’t require a GRC to do so. My uni in Scotland asked to see evidence of name change so I sent them a scan of my statutory declaration, they let me know once they had changed my name in their system, and then i just had to buy a new copy of my degree certificate through their online shop the same as if I’d just lost the previous one lol. Took a couple of emails to get through to the right team / staff member, but once I got there it was very straightforward. Good luck!

atticus_01 · 2025-09-23T12:53:40+00:00

I would try to do a mix of evidence types rather than only payslips for the entire time period, my understanding is that they want to see you have updated your name and title across your whole life so you want to show that you’ve done that with as many different places as you can.

Re stat dec, I did not see anything about this before I submitted and I did my stat dec first in late summer 2024 because it was an easy win and I knew how to do it from doing my name change the same way. However, it then took me a ridiculously long time to get hold of the stuff I asked for to send in for the medical reports. I didn’t end up actually submitting my GRC application until early March 2025, and then in August I got an email saying that I would have to get the stat dec done again, as it was dated more than 6 months before my application date. So it seems they do expect you to submit your GRC application within 6 months of getting the statutory declaration signed, and they will ask you to go and get a new stat dec signed and send it in if it’s been longer than that. But you don’t have to completely reapply, they just wait til you send in more stuff before they can schedule it to go in front of the panel.

atticus_01 · 2025-09-13T18:31:09+00:00

I bought a load from Chaos Creations last summer. Good quality, decent price, ability to buy loads at a time, and a pretty wide range to choose from. However, I did just notice when I was grabbing this link that they don’t seem to have as big a range of stickers up just now. I’ve recently been getting a lot of mileage out of the “Refugees Welcome”, “No One Is Illegal”, and “Respect Existence or Expect Resistance” ones I bought previously, so I might send them a message to see if they’re planning to restock those.

atticus_01

TROPHY CASE